Western intelligence agencies spot unusual Iranian air activity, sources say

Speaking on Thursday during a visit to South Khorasan province, Pezeshkian said that although Iran had launched missiles during the fighting, Israel’s arsenal proved superior in both quantity and capability.

“It is true that we had missiles, but their missiles were more numerous, more powerful, more precise and easier to deploy,” Pezeshkian said.

He added that it was the people who ultimately frustrated Israel, without elaborating.

Pezeshkian rejected calls for Iran to curb its missile program, framing it as essential to national defense.

“They tell us not to have missiles, while they arm Israel to the teeth so it can come here whenever it wants, raze everything and leave,” he said. “I will not accept that.”

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  Iran's buoyant missile arsenal vexes Israel, analysts say

US officials have said any talks with Tehran would hinge on sweeping conditions that include Iran ending uranium enrichment and dismantling key parts of its nuclear program, curbing or accepting limits on its missile program, and rolling back support for regional proxy forces.

The missile issue is politically charged in Tehran after the June conflict, in which Israel relied heavily on layered air and missile defenses – alongside US support – to blunt waves of Iranian ballistic missiles and drones, while still suffering some strikes that penetrated defenses.

The bipartisan bill includes provisions to counter Iranian threats, such as increased congressional transparency on Iran's uranium enrichment activities and potential weaponization decisions.

“I am also pleased that this bill... includes directing necessary resources towards defending our nation from the threats posed by Iran,” Republican senator Tom Cotton said in a joint statement with ranking member Senator Warner.

The intelligence bill requires US intelligence to warn American citizens of lethal threats from Iran and directs resources to defend against “Iranian threats.”

It also codifies travel restrictions on Iranian diplomats in the US, alongside those for Chinese, Russian, and North Korean diplomats.

Additional resources are directed toward defending the United States against various Iranian threats, including cyberattacks, proxy militias, and assassination plots.

Democratic Senator Mark Warner praised the overall bill for providing essential resources, authorities, and robust congressional oversight to the intelligence community.

“I thank my colleagues and am glad to see this bill pass once again on a strong bipartisan basis,” Senator Warner said in the joint statement.

The National Defense Authorization Act funds US defense for 2026, while Intelligence Authorization Act embedded within ensures intel focus on global threats like Iran and China.

Across Tehran and other major cities, advertising websites, job boards and even the walls outside hospitals are plastered with notices offering such services.

The role is not filled by relatives. Instead, patient companions are hired—often informally—to care for hospitalized patients, helping with eating, hygiene and mobility.

According to the head of Iran’s Nursing Organization, the country faces a shortfall of at least 100,000 nurses. The deficit appears to have created a parallel, low-wage labor market with little oversight and frequent abuse.

A nurse working at a hospital in Tehran told Iran International that the tasks assigned to patient companions often go far beyond what their wages suggest.

“They do work that no one would normally accept for this pay,” she said, requesting anonymity. “They care for patients who cannot go to the toilet or bathe on their own.”

Exploited

A search for “patient companion” (hamrah-e bimār) on Iran’s largest classifieds website, Divar, produces dozens of listings from across the country. The companies share a familiar pitch: assurances of experience, professionalism and official registration.

One company advertises an eight-hour shift for a mobile patient who does not require personal hygiene care at 800,000 tomans (about $6 at December 16 exchange rates). Many others list prices as “negotiable.”

Alongside these firms, individuals also advertise their services directly. Many claim to have first-aid training or nursing experience and say they are willing to travel nationwide.

Yet trust remains a major barrier.

“People don’t feel comfortable hiring individuals directly,” said another nurse in Tehran, who also asked not to be named. “So they turn to companies, even though the companies take most of the money.”

According to this nurse, nursing service firms often keep close to two-thirds of what families pay, leaving companions with little compensation despite the physical and emotional demands of the work.

No better option

To avoid company fees, some companions eventually try to secure work through hospital staff. After being introduced repeatedly by agencies, they ask nurses or aides to connect them directly with families in need.

The practice is most common in public hospitals, where staff shortages are most acute.

A doctor at a Tehran hospital told Iran International that families struggling to pay medical bills sometimes plead with doctors or nurses to help a relative find work as a patient companion. “It becomes a way to cover treatment costs,” he said.

A male nurse in Tehran described hiring a companion through an agency several years ago to care for his grandmother, who had cancer.

“She was a nursing student, working to support herself while studying,” he said. “She told us the companies demand large promissory notes from workers and then take two-thirds of the family’s payment.”

For many companions, the job is a temporary lifeline rather than a chosen profession.

Home-care assignments can carry additional risks, especially for women. Reports of assault or sexual harassment are not rare, the nurse added, but few are willing to come forward, fearing that agencies may move to cash promissory notes at the first sign of dispute—effectively blacklisting workers from future employment.

That lack of regulation cuts both ways. Families often prefer companies, believing them to be safer. But, as nurses acknowledge, the skills of agency-provided companions are far from guaranteed.

“Most companions are women, many of them heads of household,” one nurse in Tehran said. “Few have formal training. Most learn on the job from hospital staff. They do this because they have no other option.”

Genuis, who has advocated for proscription of the IRGC since 2018, said the Liberal government "was dragged kicking and screaming" to the decision and then failed to safeguard those ensnared by Iran’s mandatory conscription laws.

“We shouldn’t be punishing victims of forced conscription,” Genuis said. “We should target those who voluntarily joined or stayed, and those who committed atrocities.”

Canada told Iran International in November it does not automatically reject Iranian men’s permanent residency applications solely for compulsory IRGC service, after a conscript said he was ruled inadmissible for his involuntary service.

Genuis highlighted a bill he backed proposing to amend Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) to exempt individuals required to serve in a terrorist organization if they met three criteria of completing only the mandatory period, not remaining voluntarily and not participating in terrorist acts or atrocities.

The bill, he said, addressed concerns the Liberals had raised for years yet the government did not adopt it after the IRGC listing.

Last month a Federal Court dismissed an appeal by 40-year-old Iranian asylum seeker Mohammadreza Vadiati’s against the denial of permanent residency despite completing only mandatory IRGC service from 2006 to 2008 in non-combat roles.

‘Required’ not ‘forced’

Genuis criticized Canadian authorities for narrowly interpreting “forced conscription,” often requiring proof of imminent danger to life or health, while his bill deliberately used “required” instead of “forced.”

“If the law says you must do something, that is a requirement, consequences of refusal in Iran — including imprisonment — should be contextualized,” he added.

In a written response to Iran International, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said conscription alone does not automatically render someone inadmissible. However, critics say guidance remains vague, allowing excessive officer discretion.

“In the absence of clarity in the law, there is a real risk of wildly inconsistent decisions,” Genuis said, warning similarly situated applicants could face vastly different outcomes.

Under Canada’s anti-terrorism laws, membership in or support for a listed terrorist entity can result in inadmissibility, asset freezes, and criminal penalties.

“The government could easily adopt the exemption via its own legislation — the simplest and fastest solution,” he said. “The Conservatives put forward the solution, the government should implement it.”

The listing of the IRGC – which Canada blames for human rights abuses and the 2020 downing of a civilian airliner PS752 in 2020 – has broad implications for thousands of Iranian nationals who performed compulsory service.

Genuis said listing the IRGC was necessary but innocent people must be spared.

“The IRGC needed to be listed and needs to remain listed,” he said. “But it was never a choice between doing it badly or not doing it at all. We showed how to do it right.”

Genuis also criticized the Liberal government’s record on foreign interference and transnational repression, warning Iranian government-linked threats remain active in Canada.

The group, known as Handala, said it had released information on 13 individuals it described as key designers of systems such as Arrow and David’s Sling.

The material published by the group included photos, names, professional credentials, email addresses, locations and phone numbers.

“These individuals, who were once thought to be hidden in the shadows, are now fully exposed to the world,” the group said in a statement carried by Iran’s ISNA news agency, adding that it would pay $30,000 for what it called valuable information.

Israeli media outlets, including the Jerusalem Post, have not confirmed whether the information released by the group is accurate.

Who is Handala?

Handala is widely described by cybersecurity researchers and Western officials as tied to Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence.

Researchers say the group operates as part of a broader cyber unit known as Banished Kitten, also referred to as Storm-0842 or Dune, which they link to the ministry’s Domestic Security Directorate.

The group has been linked to cyber operations against Israeli infrastructure and public institutions for around two years.

In January, it claimed responsibility for a cyberattack on Israeli kindergartens that disrupted public address systems at about 20 locations. In August, the group was linked to hacks targeting multiple Israeli entities, including academic institutions, technology firms, media outlets and industrial companies.

Handala has also been linked to cyber operations targeting Iran International, a London-based Persian-language broadcaster. In July, Iran International said leaked materials published by Iranian state outlets originated from earlier hacks carried out in the summer of 2024 and January 2025.

The broadcaster attributed those hacks to a broader cyber unit known as Banished Kitten. The channel said the hackers may have installed malware through compromised Telegram accounts. “These cyberattacks are part of a broader campaign of threats targeting Iran International, including physical threats against our staff,” it said.

Iran International said its journalists have faced sustained harassment since the channel was founded in 2017, including threats of assassination and kidnapping, physical assaults, online abuse and hacking.